Until the advent of the present invention, sportsmen, and in particular hunters, typically wore specially made vests and/or cartridge belts in order to transport such necessaries as ammunition and knives for hunting or skinning. These articles of clothing were just that, and served the primary purpose of providing warmth or holding up the wearer's pants. During those periods when the sportsman was not actively engaged in pursuit of his sport, he nonetheless wore those articles of clothing to achieve their primary purpose and often, therefore, carried live ammunition or a knife around with him. Both posed a nuisance and a potential, but unnecessary, danger. Moreover, cartridge belts typically left the primer or percussion cap facing upwardly and usually fully exposed. Vests either had external loops for cartridges or, at best, covered the cartridges themselves with relatively flimsey material, such as canvas duck, which was never intended to and could not be expected to absorb, spread or withstand sharp impact. Thus, such articles of clothing placed the user in the posture of carrying live ammunition in a position which exposed his person to danger of inadvertant impact and possible discharge of a cartridge and unless the wearer chose to remove the ammunition and place it elsewhere except when actively engaged in hunting pursuits, his exposure to such dangers was continuous as long as he wore the aforementioned articles. Still another disadvantage of loop storage is found in an accumulation of dirt and grit on cartridge surfaces which adversely effects "chambering" of shells and requires frequent cleaning of weapons.
The present invention provides a unique means of carrying ammunition and related hunting equipment in the form of a vastly improved accessory pouch which may be worn selectively and with a high degree of safety in that its construction inherently protects live ammunition from inadvertent impact which might result in discharge, and because it is an accessory constructed to be worn on the user's belt, it may be removed conveniently and stored with ammunition intact safely when the sportsman is not actively engaged in hunting pursuits.
Thus, the accessory pouch provides a high degree of safety as compared to more conventional and better known vests and cartridge belts and separate knife sheaths, and further provides the added convenience of selective use in that it is capable of being worn on the belt when needed and quickly removed from the belt when not in use, thereby eliminating the problem of having to carry live ammunition on one's belt during periods when the user is not engaged in a hunting activity. Moreover, as previously pointed out, the foldability feature has the multiple advantage of protecting the cap and primer of any live cartridges against inadvertent impact which might cause a shell discharge, storing and maintaining the cartridges relatively free of dirt and grit, while at the same time permitting ready access to cartridges by the user when, and only when, desired.
In summary, the present invention provides a unique accessory, being particularly useful to the full spectrum of sportsmen from hunters to competition target shooters, having highly desirable safety features not found in prior devices and permitting the user to carry such items as a sharp knife and live cartridges in a single compact unit only when such items are needed in actual use and to remove and safely store the same when not needed without having to remove or exchange a belt or vest or other multipurpose article of clothing customarily used for carrying such hunting accessories. The present invention thus provides optimum practical use of existing clothing without sacrifice of the convenience of having necessary equipment available when, but only when, required and in relative complete safety.